Mobile communication terminal and method of selecting menu and item

ABSTRACT

A method of controlling a mobile terminal, and which includes allowing, via a wireless communication unit on the mobile terminal, wireless communication with at least one other terminal; displaying, on a first side of a touch screen display of the mobile terminal, a sound icon indicating whether or not a sound is output by the mobile terminal; receiving, via a controller, a touching selection signal indicating a touching of the sound icon; displaying, on the touch screen display, a first indicator corresponding to the sound icon on a second side of the touch screen display and separated from the sound icon, said first indicator indicating a direction in which a touch and drag operation should occur to turn off the sound output by the mobile terminal; receiving, via the controller, a touch and drag selection signal indicating a dragging operation along a vector from the sound icon toward an intersection with the first indicator; and turning off, via the controller, the sound output by the mobile terminal after receiving the touch and drag signal indicating the dragging operation and before the first indicator is touched. The present invention also provides a corresponding mobile terminal.

This Nonprovisional application is a Continuation of co-pendingapplication Ser. No. 11/862,906, filed on Sep. 27, 2007 and for whichpriority is claimed under 35 U.S.C. §120, which claims priority under 35U.S.C. §119(a) to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2006-0094159 filed inKorea on Sep. 27, 2006, the entire contents of which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a mobile communication terminal and acorresponding method of selecting menus and items.

2. Discussion of Related Art

Mobile communication terminals now provide many additional services andfunctions besides the basic call service. For example, users can nowaccess the Internet, send and receive text and voice messages, performscheduling tasks, and watch movies or other broadcasts using theirmobile terminal.

As the number of functions provided by the mobile terminal has increasedso has the number of menu options used to select the differentfunctions. Thus, the user uses an input unit provided with the mobileterminal to select the different menu options. However, the selection ofthe menu options often requires several manipulations of the input unit(e.g., to select the main menu and all of the appropriate sub-menus).

Furthermore, when the mobile terminal includes a touch screen, it isoften difficult for the user to touch and select the appropriate menuoptions, because the menu options are displayed in a narrow or smallportion on the touch screen. That is, the user often selects a sub-menuoption that is next to the sub-menu option the user wanted to actuallyselect, because the sub-menu options are provided in a narrow or smallportion on the touch screen display.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, one option of the present invention is to address theabove-noted and other problems.

Another option of the present invention is to make it simple to select amenu option or other item on a mobile communication terminal.

Another object of the present invention is to make it easy for a user tocorrectly recognize what menu option they have selected.

To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purposeof the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, thepresent invention provides in one aspect a menu selection method, whichincludes selecting a main menu displayed on a touch device of aterminal, displaying one or more sub-menus corresponding to the selectedmain menu, sensing a direction of a dragging operation on the touchdevice, and executing a corresponding sub-menu located in the senseddirection of the dragging operation. The present invention also providesa corresponding mobile communication terminal.

In another aspect, the present invention provides an item selectionmethod, which includes selecting a direction point on a touch device ofa terminal, sensing a direction of a dragging operation from theselected direction point on the touch device, and executing acorresponding item located in the sensed direction of the draggingoperation. The present invention also provides a corresponding mobilecommunication terminal.

In still another aspect, the present invention provides a method ofcontrolling a mobile terminal, and which includes allowing, via awireless communication unit on the mobile terminal, wirelesscommunication with at least one other terminal; displaying, on a firstside of a touch screen display of the mobile terminal, a sound iconindicating whether or not a sound is output by the mobile terminal;receiving, via a controller, a touching selection signal indicating atouching of the sound icon; displaying, on the touch screen display, afirst indicator corresponding to the sound icon on a second side of thetouch screen display and separated from the sound icon, said firstindicator indicating a direction in which a touch and drag operationshould occur to turn off the sound output by the mobile terminal;receiving, via the controller, a touch and drag selection signalindicating a dragging operation along a vector from the sound icontoward an intersection with the first indicator; and turning off, viathe controller, the sound output by the mobile terminal after receivingthe touch and drag signal indicating the dragging operation and beforethe first indicator is touched. The present invention also provides acorresponding mobile terminal.

Further scope of applicability of the present invention will becomeapparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, itshould be understood that the detailed description and specificexamples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, aregiven by illustration only, since various changes and modificationswithin the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent tothose skilled in the art from this detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from thedetailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings,which are given by illustration only, and thus are not limitative of thepresent invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a mobile communication terminal according toan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a mobile communication terminalaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of selecting a menuaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 4( a)-4(d) are overviews illustrating a method of selectingsub-menus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is an overview illustrating a method of selecting a specificsub-menu of the sub-menus shown in FIGS. 4( a)-(d);

FIGS. 6( a)-6(e) are overviews illustrating displayed main menus withtheir corresponding sub-menus according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 7( a) and 7(b) are overviews illustrating a method of selecting aspecific main menu and then selecting another main menu according to anembodiment of the present invention; and

FIGS. 8( a) and 8(b) are overviews illustrating a method of selecting aspecific direction point and then performing a dragging operationtowards a particular item to thereby select the particular itemaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of thepresent invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a mobile communication terminal 10 accordingto an embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 1, themobile terminal 10 includes a display unit 120 having a touch screen 122(that is, a touch device). Further, a main menu and correspondingsub-menus are displayed on the touch screen 122 such that a user canselect a desired function on the mobile terminal 10.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the mobile communication terminal10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As illustratedin FIG. 2, the mobile communication terminal 10 includes atransmit/receive unit 100, a memory unit 110, the display unit 120, aninput unit 130 and a controller 140.

The transmit/receive unit 100 receives data from a base station via anantenna ANT, and transmits data generated by the mobile communicationterminal 10 to the base station via the antenna ANT. In addition, thememory unit 110 may include a flash memory, a Read Access Memory (RAM),an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM) or thelike, and stores a program for controlling an overall operation of themobile communication terminal 10. The memory unit 110 also stores aplurality of main menus and one or more sub-menus corresponding to themain menus.

Further, the display unit 120 displays contents received from thetransmit/receive unit 100, a variety of information signals, thecontents of data stored in the memory unit 110, etc. In addition, asdiscussed above, the display unit 120 includes the touch screen 122 thatthe user can touch to select any one of a plurality of main menus andsub-menus.

Further, the touch screen 122 is a screen in which an instruction isexecuted or the location of a cursor is moved by recognizing a portionat which the user touches the touch screen 122 (e.g., using his or herfinger, a pointer, a touch pen, etc.). For example, the touch screen 112may be a screen in which a screen surface is filled with the flow ofcharge current, and have sensors installed around the screen surface.Then, the touching of the screen is detected using an electrostaticmethod of perceiving a place at which the user touches the touch screen122 by sensing the degree of charges lost at the time the user touchesthe touch screen 122. The touch screen 122 may also be any other type oftouch screen, such as a pressure-sensitive touch screen is which thescreen responds to pressures applied to the screen surface, an infraredtype touch screen in which a contact location is detected by sensingthat infrared rays are precluded where the touch occurs, etc.

Further, the input unit 130 includes number keys, a variety of functionkeys, arrow keys, etc. and outputs a signal to the controller 140corresponding to a key selected by a user. In addition, the controller140 includes a Mobile Station Modem (MSM) and controls the general inputand output operations of the mobile terminal 10. For example, if thecontroller 140 detects that the user has dragged his or her finger (orother pointing object) in a direction from a main menu towards aspecific sub-menu displayed on the touch screen 122, the controller 140executes the operation corresponding to the specific sub-menu. Thesefeatures will now be described in more detail.

In more detail, FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of selectinga menu according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 willalso be referred to in this description. As shown in FIG. 3, thecontroller 140 stores a plurality of main menus, and one or moresub-menus corresponding to the main menus in the memory unit 110 (stepS300). Further, the main menus and the sub-menus have a hierarchicalstructure formed by collecting correlated functions. That is, the mainmenu refers to a menu covering the correlated function of one or moresub-menus. For example, FIG. 4( a) illustrates main menus including areceive message box, a multimedia message, ring tones, a call list, anelectronic note, and an environment setting. Other main menus may alsobe displayed, and FIG. 4( a) is only a partial list of all main menusthat may be included with a mobile terminal.

Next, in FIG. 3, the user can select any one of the displayed main menusby touching a corresponding main menu (step S310). For example, FIG. 4(b) illustrates a state in which the user touches the main menu “ringtone” in FIG. 4( a). As shown in FIG. 4( b), when the user selects themain menu “ring tone”, the controller 140 displays a plurality ofcorresponding sub-menus around the main menu (step S320 in FIG. 3).

That is, the controller 140 displays the sub-menus “lamp”, “vibration”,“bell” and “vibration+lamp” corresponding to the main menu “ring tone”around the main menu “ring tone” as illustrated in FIG. 4( b). In thisembodiment, the main menu “ring tone” is located at the center, and thesub-menus “lamp”, “vibration”, “bell”, and “vibration+lamp” are locatedso as to surround the main menu “ring tone”.

Then, as shown in FIG. 4( c), the user drags his or her finger from themain menu “ring tone” in a right direction to the sub-menu “vibration”.Thus, the controller 140 senses the user has dragged his or her finger(or other pointing device) in this direction (step S330 in FIG. 3), andexecutes the operation corresponding to the sub-menu “vibration” (stepS340). That is, the controller 140 sets the ring tone for the mobileterminal 10 to be a vibration ring tone (where the terminal 10 simplyvibrates to inform the user about an incoming call, text or voicemessage, etc). The controller 140 also displays a completion message“Vibration setting has been completed” to the user as shown in FIG. 4(d). The controller 140 may also just vibrate the terminal 10 to informthe user that the vibration setting has been completed, rather thandisplaying the completion message.

FIG. 5 illustrates the main menu “ring tone” and correspondingsub-menus, and the directions in which the user may drag his or herfinger to select and execute a corresponding sub-menu. In other words,to select the sub-menu “vibration”, the user first touches the main menu“ring tone” and then drags their finger in the right direction to the“vibration” sub-menu. Similarly, to select the sub-menu “lamp”, the userfirst touches the main menu “ring tone” and then drags their finger inan upward direction to the “lamp” sub-menu. Further, to select thesub-menu “bell”, the user first touches the main menu “ring tone” andthen drags their finger in the left direction to the “bell” sub-menu.Also, to select the menu “vibration+lamp”, the user first touches mainmenu “ring tone” and then drags their finger in a downward direction tothe “bell” sub-menu.

In addition, FIG. 5 illustrates the user dragging his or her finger allthe way through the corresponding sub-menu. However, it is also possiblefor the controller 140 to activate a corresponding sub-menu functionwhen the user simply drags his or her finger in a direction toward thecorresponding sub-menu without actually contacting the sub-menu or whenpartially passing through the corresponding sub-menu.

Next, FIGS. 6( a)-6(e) illustrate the main menu “ring tone” andcorresponding sub-menus being displayed in a variety of differentarrangements. In more detail, and as illustrated in FIG. 6( a), thesub-menus can be displayed so as to surround only a part of a main menu.In other words, the sub-menus “lamp”, “vibration”, “bell”, and“vibration+lamp” are displayed only on the upper and right sides of themain menu “ring tone”.

Alternatively, as illustrated in FIG. 6( b), the sub-menus “lamp”,“vibration”, “bell”, and “vibration+lamp” are displayed only on theupper and lower sides of the main menu “ring tone”. Further, thesub-menus may also be displayed next to the main menu withoutsurrounding the main menu. In other words, as illustrated in FIG. 6( c),the sub-menus “lamp”, “vibration”, “bell”, and “vibration+lamp” aredisplayed only on the upper side of the main menu “ring tone”.

Alternatively, as illustrated in FIG. 6( d), the sub-menus “lamp”,“vibration”, “bell”, and “vibration+lamp” are displayed only on theright side of the main menu “ring tone”. Further, as shown in FIG. 6(d), the sub-menus “lamp”, “vibration”, “bell”, and “vibration+lamp” area distance d₁ from the main menu “ring tone”. Alternatively, as shown inFIG. 6( e), the sub-menus “lamp”, “vibration”, “bell”, and“vibration+lamp” are displayed only on the right side of the main menu“ring tone” at a distance d₂ from the main menu “ring tone” (rather thanat a distance d₁ as in FIG. 6( d)). In addition, even thought thedirection d₂ is longer than the direction d₁, the user can select thesub-menus that are a distance d₂ away from the main menu, by simplydragging their finger in the direction of the corresponding sub-menu.Further, the sub-menus may be displayed only on the right side of themain menu (as shown in FIG. 6( d)) or may be displayed only on the leftside of the main menu.

Next, FIGS. 7( a) and 7(b) are overviews illustrating a method ofselecting a specific main menu and then selecting another main menuaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. In more detail, andas shown in FIG. 7( a), when the user selects a main menu setting optionon the terminal, a plurality of main menus are displayed. Then, when theuser selects the “ring tone” main menu, the controller 140 displays thecorresponding sub-menus related to the selected main menu on the touchscreen 122 as shown in FIG. 7( a).

Further, as shown in FIG. 7( b), when the user selects the main menu“receive message box”, the controller 140 confirms the selection (e.g.,by highlighting the selected main menu) and displays the correspondingsub-menus. In other words, the controller 140 activates the main menu“receive message box”, which has been selected by the user, and displaysthe sub-menus “received message box”, “sent message box”, “spam message”and “multimedia message” corresponding to the main menu “receive messagebox” on the touch screen 122. Further, at the same time, the controller140 deactivates the other non-selected main menus and sub-menus.

Next, FIGS. 8( a) and 8(b) are overviews illustrating a method ofselecting a specific direction point on the touch screen 122 and thenperforming a dragging operation towards a particular item to therebyselect the particular item according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. As shown in FIG. 8( a), the controller 140 displays adirection point 2 and a plurality of selectable items 4 on the touchscreen 122 of the terminal. In this example, the plurality of items 4corresponding to contacts that the user can call (e.g., home contact,babysitter contact, office contact, friend contact, etc.). However, theselectable items can be any one of a menu option, characters, icons, aUniform Resource Locator (URL), a music file, a picture file, etc.

Then, when the user selects (touches) the direction point 2 and dragstheir finger in a particular direction toward an item 4, the controller140 senses the direction of the dragging operation from the selecteddirection point 2 toward the item 4. The controller 140 then executes acorresponding item located in the sensed direction of the draggingoperation. For example, as shown in FIG. 8( b), the controller 140senses the user touches the direction point 2 and performs a draggingoperation toward the home contact 4 in the upper right hand corner ofthe touch screen 122. In this instance, the controller 140 would thenperform a dialing operation to dial the home phone number included inthe corresponding selected item 4. As in the other embodiments, thecontroller 140 can execute a function corresponding to the particularitem when the user just performs a dragging operation towards the item4, or when the user drags his or her finger all the way across orpartially across the particular item 4.

Note also that in FIG. 8( a), the touch direction point 2 is displayedas a bar, and when the user touches and performs a dragging operation,the controller 140 changes the displayed bar into an arrow pointing inthe direction in which the user performs the dragging operation. Thus,the user can easily confirm the direction of the dragging operation andthe item to be selected.

Further, FIGS. 8( a) and 8(b) illustrate four selected items, but anynumber of items may be displayed. The items 4 may also be displayed inalternative arrangements as discussed above with respect to the menuoptions. In addition, when the item 4 is a music or picture file, thecontroller 140 plays the music file or displays the picture file in afull screen mode, for example. When the item 4 is a URL, the controller140 connects to the web page associated with the URL.

Further, as described above, the user can select a sub-menu by draggingtheir finger in the direction of the sub-menu without actually touchingthe sub-menu, or may pass through all or only part of the sub-menu toselect it. These different ways of selecting a sub-menu can beadvantageously set by a user using the appropriate menu options providedon the mobile terminal. For example, the user may select a “selectingsub-menus” main menu option on the terminal and then select theappropriate method he or she desires to be used for selecting sub-menus.The user can also select an option such that the main menu is dragged ina direction of the sub-menu to select the corresponding sub-menu.

Further, the above-described embodiments refer to a mobile communicationterminal. However, the present invention is also applicable to all typesof terminals equipped with a touch device. In addition, it is alsopossible to select an item or menu option on the touch screen byselecting a particular point on the touch screen and then dragging apointer in a direction of the item.

As described above, the present invention has several advantages. First,the user can easily select a corresponding sub-menu or item that isdisplayed on the touch screen of the terminal. The selectable optionsprovided on the terminal may also be freely arranged in any desiredmanner. The user can also easily determine which selectable option he orshe has selected.

As the present invention may be embodied in several forms withoutdeparting from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof, itshould also be understood that the above-described embodiments are notlimited by any of the details of the foregoing description, unlessotherwise specified, but rather should be construed broadly within itsspirit and scope as defined in the appended claims, and therefore allchanges and modifications that fall within the metes and bounds of theclaims, or equivalence of such metes and bounds are therefore intendedto be embraced by the appended claims.

1. A method of controlling a mobile terminal, the method comprising: allowing, via a wireless communication unit on the mobile terminal, wireless communication with at least one other terminal; displaying, on a first side of a touch screen display of the mobile terminal, a sound icon indicating whether or not a sound is output by the mobile terminal; receiving, via a controller, a touching selection signal indicating a touching of the sound icon; displaying, on the touch screen display, a first indicator corresponding to the sound icon on a second side of the touch screen display and separated from the sound icon, said first indicator indicating a direction in which a touch and drag operation should occur to turn off the sound output by the mobile terminal; receiving, via the controller, a touch and drag selection signal indicating a dragging operation along a vector from the sound icon toward an intersection with the first indicator; and turning off, via the controller, the sound output by the mobile terminal after receiving the touch and drag signal indicating the dragging operation and before the first indicator is touched.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the sound icon includes an arrow indicating the direction in which the touch and drag operation should occur to turn off the sound output by the mobile terminal.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the turning off step turns off the sound output by the mobile terminal when the dragging operation along the vector toward the intersection with the first indicator is sensed within a predetermined period of time after the sound icon is touched.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein when the sound icon is selected, the method further comprises changing a shape of the sound icon.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the shape of the sound icon is changed from a bar shape to a pointer shape.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the pointer shape points toward a direction of the dragging operation along the vector from the selected sound icon toward the intersection with the first indicator.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: turning back on the sound output by the mobile terminal when receiving a touching selection signal indicating another touching of the sound icon and receiving another touch and drag signal indicating a dragging operation along a vector from the sound icon toward an intersection with a second indicator.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the sound icon is displayed on a right side of the touch screen display when viewing the touch screen display, and the first indicator is displayed on a left side of the touch screen display when viewing the touch screen display.
 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising: displaying a touch and drag bar along the vector from the sound icon toward the intersection with the first indicator while receiving the touch and drag selection signal.
 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising: displaying, on the second side of the touch screen display of the mobile terminal, another icon indicating whether or not another function on the mobile terminal is executed; receiving, via a controller, a touching selection signal indicating a touching of said another icon; displaying, on the touch screen display, another indicator corresponding to said another icon and indicating a direction in which a touch and drag operation should occur to execute said another function; receiving, via the controller, a touch and drag selection signal indicating a dragging operation along a vector from said another icon toward an intersection with said another indicator; and executing said another function on the mobile terminal after receiving the touch and drag signal indicating the dragging operation and before said another indicator is touched.
 11. A mobile terminal, comprising: a wireless communication unit configured to wirelessly communicate with at least one other terminal; a touch screen display configured to display a sound icon indicating whether or not a sound is output by the mobile terminal on a first side of the touch screen display; and a controller configured to receive a touching selection signal indicating a touching of the sound icon, to control the touch screen display to display a first indicator corresponding to the sound icon on a second side of the touch screen display and separated from the sound icon, said first indicator indicating a direction in which a touch and drag operation should occur to turn off the sound output by the mobile terminal, to receive a touch and drag selection signal indicating a dragging operation along a vector from the sound icon toward an intersection with the first indicator, and to turn off the sound output by the mobile terminal after receiving the touch and drag signal indicating the dragging operation and before the first indicator is touched.
 12. The mobile terminal of claim 11, wherein the sound icon includes an arrow indicating the direction in which the touch and drag operation should occur to turn off the sound output by the mobile terminal.
 13. The mobile terminal of claim 11, wherein the controller is further configured to turn off the sound output by the mobile terminal when the dragging operation along the vector toward the intersection with the first indicator is sensed within a predetermined period of time after the sound icon is touched.
 14. The mobile terminal of claim 11, wherein when the sound icon is selected, the controller is further configured to change a shape of the sound icon.
 15. The mobile terminal of claim 14, wherein the shape of the sound icon is changed from a bar shape to a pointer shape.
 16. The mobile terminal of claim 15, wherein the pointer shape points toward a direction of the dragging operation along the vector from the selected sound icon toward the intersection with the first indicator.
 17. The mobile terminal of claim 11, wherein the controller is further configured to turn back on the sound output by the mobile terminal when receiving a touching selection signal indicating another touching of the sound icon and receiving another touch and drag signal indicating a dragging operation along a vector from the sound icon toward an intersection with a second indicator.
 18. The mobile terminal of claim 11, wherein the sound icon is displayed on a right side of the touch screen display when viewing the touch screen display, and the first indicator is displayed on a left side of the touch screen display when viewing the touch screen display.
 19. The mobile terminal of claim 11, wherein the controller is further configured to display on the touch screen display a touch and drag bar along the vector from the sound icon toward the intersection with the first indicator while receiving the touch and drag selection signal.
 20. The mobile terminal of claim 11, wherein the controller is further configured to display on the second side of the touch screen display, another icon indicating whether or not another function on the mobile terminal is executed, to receive a touching selection signal indicating a touching of said another icon, to display on the touch screen display another indicator corresponding to said another icon and indicating a direction in which a touch and drag operation should occur to execute said another function, to receive a touch and drag selection signal indicating a dragging operation along a vector from said another icon toward an intersection with said another indicator, and to execute said another function on the mobile terminal after receiving the touch and drag signal indicating the dragging operation and before said another indicator is touched.
 21. A method of controlling a mobile terminal, the method comprising: displaying, on a touch screen display of the mobile terminal, at least one menu icon; receiving, via a controller of the mobile terminal, a touching selection signal indicating a touching of the menu icon; displaying, on the touch screen display, a first indicator corresponding to the menu icon and separated from the menu icon, said first indicator indicating a direction in which a touch and drag operation should occur to set a function related to the menu icon; receiving, via the controller, a touch and drag selection signal indicating a dragging operation toward the first indicator; and changing, via the controller, a mode corresponding to the menu icon and the first indicator after receiving the touch and drag signal indicating the dragging operation before the first indicator is touched.
 22. A mobile terminal, comprising: a wireless communication unit configured to wirelessly communicate with at least one other terminal; a touch screen display configured to display at least one menu icon; and a controller configured to receive a touching selection signal indicating a touching of the menu icon, to control the touch screen display to display a first indicator corresponding to the menu icon and separated from the menu icon, said first indicator indicating a direction in which a touch and drag operation should occur to set a function related to the menu icon, to receive a touch and drag selection signal indicating a dragging operation toward the first indicator, and to change a mode corresponding to the menu icon and the first indicator after receiving the touch and drag signal indicating the dragging operation before the first indicator is touched. 